Interesting negative-utopia premise lost in chaotic action scenes

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2007)

For the first hour or so of this movie, it stays on track with a logically developed science fiction story that even introduces an exploration of an ethics issue that will soon face society. It's told in the classic '70's style of negative utopias of the near future. Much of the artificial society the main characters exist in is illustrated quite expertly for the audience.
A "lottery" is eagerly anticipated by the inhabitants of a domed shelter, where they receive a "get-out-of-here-free" card to a beautiful south seas island. It is an oasis on Earth, a Shangri-La dreamed by everyone, free from a contamination that obliterated most of the life outside the enclosed world we see. But, the plot releases traces of evidence that "something's not quite right here." The audience learns the truth with the characters, never knowing more than they do.
But as the second chapter opens with an escape attempt, the usual Michael Bay is released from restraint, and the CGI explosion fest begins. High speed chases, characters operating vehicles they've never seen before, explosions, gun play, people falling from skyscrapers (and surviving!), buildings collapsing, etc. are all offered through the magic of overused CGI chaos. Of course, this is all topped off with a shooting death captured in "bullet time" slow-mo, so you can watch the projectile enter the victim's vital organs.
After this, the film limps toward the finish with more such nonsense. This movie had potential; an updated exploration of genetic science first examined in Logan's Run, Brave New World, and other stories. In the end, it falls short of those, by resorting to mayhem and violence.